The poet Paul Celan lost his parents when they were deported and murdered by the National Socialists during the Holocaust. He was himself deported to a forced labour camp and survived. This traumatic experience had a profound impact on his life and writing.
After delving into texts by poet Forough Farrokhzad in I PITY THE GARDEN, interdisciplinary artist Nazanin Noori once again dedicates herself to a significant poetic work. She translates Celan’s legacy into the form of a spoken-word opera, reflecting on collective memory and how it can be represented aesthetically.
Celan’s poem Todesfuge (Death Fugue) from 1945 describes the horror of the crimes against humanity committed during the National Socialist era, the system of dehumanization and the pain that accompanied it: »Death is a master from Germany.«
As a starting point for the production, supplemented with Celan’s other poems, a poetic score is created, which is set in an oratorio-type style. Not in the sense of a classical vocal score, but as a polyphonic texture in which voice, instrument and silence intertwine. In the form of a deconstructed requiem, his poetry unfolds sonically as an expression of grief and resistance in the face of the Holocaust, which eludes liturgical redemption.
Noori collaborated with composer Andrea Belfi on the creation of this musical-performative examination of Celan's work, borne by musicians and a multilingual ensemble using drama, song and voice.
